Mining Incidents

H. Bittle & Son: 56 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

H. Bittle & Son Inc. · Surface
Controlled by George W Heinlein
Medford, Suffolk County, NY  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 3003879

H. Bittle & Son has $18K in proposed MSHA penalties and $11K outstanding across 4 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2013
56
citations
32
significant & substantial
$17,891
proposed penalties
$4,741
paid to date
26% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $13,150 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2013
9
inspections on record
159
inspection hours
n/a
citations per 100 inspection hours
This rate is recorded citations divided by MSHA inspection hours, per 100 hours. It reflects inspection effort, not mine size or production.
Rate withheld: 159 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

H. Bittle & Son has $18K in proposed MSHA penalties and $11K outstanding across 4 contested dockets.

Penalty disposition
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$18K
proposed penalties
$15K
current assessed
$5K
paid to date
$11K
outstanding
56 assessments are final orders; 4 contested dockets.
Of $13K in penalties contested before the Commission, $10K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2016-02-23.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.
Violation severity profile
Shares are computed over citations that carry the MSHA gravity and negligence coding; a small share of records are uncoded.
57.1%
significant & substantial
30.4%
high negligence or reckless
57.1%
reasonably likely or greater
80.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 0.0% low, 69.6% moderate, 30.4% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
When citations were contested
Contesting a citation before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is a lawful right. These figures state the public outcomes of that process, from MSHA's Contested Violations file.
23 citations taken to the federal commission · 41% of citations on record
  • Settled 23 · 100%
100%
S&S designation survived the contest
Counts a Significant & Substantial citation as surviving when a settlement or judge's decision kept the designation, or the contest was dismissed or defaulted so the citation stands as issued. Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.
of 12 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
20%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$13K proposed, $10K after decisions · industry: 39%
Source: MSHA Contested Violations file (public record), updated weekly. A dismissed or defaulted contest leaves the citation standing as issued; a vacated or withdrawn citation is removed from the violation record. Latest contest filed 2016-05-18.
Contested penalties
A reduction or dismissal at the Commission is a lawful outcome of contesting a proposed penalty. Figures are the proposed amount and the amount upheld in the docket's decision.
Largest penalties this mine contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
YORK 2014-0176 Settlement Paez 2017 $10K → $7K
YORK 2015-0096 Settlement Paez 2017 $1K → $1K
YORK 2015-0143 Settlement Paez 2017 $1K → $1K
YORK 2016-0097 Settlement Paez 2017 $408 → $408
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. H. Bittle & Son Inc. 2013 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2016 2
2015 3
2014 4
2013 4
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

H. Bittle & Son sits in Suffolk County, New York, where the Census mining category is 0.0% of county employment.

Local economic context
County figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 5-year pooled estimates, so the 2023 vintage covers 2019 through 2023. The Census category is 'mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction', which is broader than MSHA jurisdiction and includes oil and gas workers no mine employs. These figures describe the surrounding county, not this mine, and are not a factor in any specific incident.
Suffolk County, New York · Population 1,525,680
0.0%
Mining share of county employment
$128,329
Median household income
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates.
Quarterly safety rates
Citations per million reported employee-hours. Rates begin in 2000, when MSHA's quarterly employment data starts; earlier incidents are counted but cannot be rate-adjusted. Quarters under 100,000 reported hours are greyed: too few hours for a stable rate.
Citations per million employee-hours, as reported to MSHA
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2016 Q4 104 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 159 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 165 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 204 4 1 19607.8
2015 Q4 414 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 501 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 429 9 4 20979.0
2015 Q1 417 8 5 19184.7
Show 7 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2014 Q4 403 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 393 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 435 9 6 20689.7
2014 Q1 404 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 416 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 494 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 488 26 16 53278.7

No reportable incidents on file.

MSHA has no recorded reportable accidents for this mine in the current dataset. New reports appear here within a week of being filed.